Twenty minutes later, after a delicious liquid breakfast of hot peppermint cocoa, the two friends left the hotel. Shei had been right – the blizzard passed during the night, leaving behind only crisp, shining white snow that was nearly blinding because of its brightness.

“Isn’t it pretty?” the Lupe asked, breathing in deeply and squinting her eyes. She was obviously in a much better mood than she had been the day before. She adjusted the pink Slorg backpack on her shoulders as they continued walking.

“It is,” Dellayn agreed, surveying the area in a bored manner. “Can we go up to the top of the mountain now? Or at least back to the ice caves?”

“Let’s go to the caves,” Shei said, deciding for them. “We can get a scratchcard and check out the Snowager.”

Surprised, Shei turned and looked at the Gelert. “Why do you think he’s awake? He might not be. If he isn’t, we might be able to get a Negg or something.”

“Well, it’s daytime. Do you sleep during the day?”

“Well, no, but –” She was about to say that it was only morning and he might like to sleep in, but Dellayn interrupted her before she could squeeze in another word.

“My point exactly. If we don’t sleep during the day, why should he? He’s probably awake, Shei.” Biting her lip, Dellayn looked around as they headed for the caves, pretending to look interested in the scenery.

Shei glanced sideways at her. “Whatever. If you say so.”

With a stifled sigh of relief from Dellayn, they continued their trek to the ice caves, passing many joyful Neopets and owners on their way. Dellayn accidentally walked into a tree while she was looking at everything but what was in front of her, bumping hard into the bark and causing snow to fall into her backpack. Shei, completely innocent, received a chilly surprise snowball to the side of her head as a young Kougra missed his target.

“Well, that was just lovely,” Shei murmured to Dellayn, wiping the wet snow off her grimacing face. The blue Kougra who had thrown it, missing his friend, stared at her with wide eyes and his mouth dropped open in shock and fright. When Shei saw his alarmed expression, she cheerfully called out, “It’s okay! I’m fine. Continue your snowball fight.”

The two girls quickly moved along, making sure to avoid the flying snow. After a few more minutes of trudging through the deep wet stuff, they reached the vast caves.

Both letting out a deep breath of awe, they stood and let themselves stare for a few long seconds, planting the scene in their memories. “Isn’t it amazing?” Shei asked. “I can’t even begin to wonder how it all froze over like this.”

Dellayn agreed, and they headed to the scratchcard kiosk. Shei was given a Terror Trove Scratchcard and Dellayn a Race to Riches. Dellayn got lucky and won a cute green Quiggle plushie, but Shei lost and didn’t get anything.

“What a waste of neopoints,” she complained, curling her bottom lip into a pout as she watched Dellayn cuddle the plushie.

“We’ll come back later and get another,” Dellayn said cheerfully, happily studying the plushie. “Or maybe tomorrow morning to take home, before the ferry leaves.”

“Alright,” Shei moaned. “Come on. Let’s go up on the mountain. Maybe we’ll be able to see Neopia Central from there, if the clouds have cleared.”

* * *

It wasn’t snowing on the mountain. Instead, the sun was shining brightly, but it still wasn’t warm. Just slightly less cold, but much windier than in the caves!

After that they both purchased Brucicles – Shei a strawberry one and Dellayn a raspberry one, which they ate on their way out. “These are so good!” Dellayn exclaimed, eagerly licking the last drops off her stick.

“I know!” Shei agreed. “I want another one.” She laughed.

All that afternoon, the two friends explored the entire mountain – the ice caves, the valley, and the mountaintop. They bought pineapple and mango slushies, ice skated, and visited the winter petpets. It was a blast!

That evening, when it was just starting to get dark, they returned to the hotel to start packing up their things. The ferry left early in the morning, and if they wanted to get scratchcards, they’d have to wake up even earlier to make it in time. “I hope they’ll be open that early,” was Shei’s only comment. They were confident that it would be and refused to think otherwise.

Dear Kela,

Our last day on Terror Mountain was great! Have you ever had a mango slushie before? They’re fantastic! Delly and I bought our first ever scratchcards, and she won a cute little plushie. I didn’t get anything. Oh, well. We’re going to try and pick up another tomorrow morning before the ferry leaves for Mystery Island. I also got the girls these awesome popsicles that never melt! I wrapped them up in plastic bags, so I hope they don’t get squished. They shouldn’t, since they’re frozen.

Have you ever seen a Raindorf? They are so cute! There was a couple in the Wintery Petpets shop. It made me miss Fluffy a lot. Did you buy her at Wintery Petpets? I didn’t see any Snowbunnies there. Will you tell her hello for me, and give her a big hug? I wish I could’ve brought her with me, but I don’t know if she would’ve liked the hot weather on Mystery Island.

On the top of the mountain, we visited the igloo garage sale and the mystery shop. The garage sale was out of stock every time we went in (it must have been five or six times!), and I spent a crazy amount of money on a single comb in the mystery shop. At least it wasn’t a pile of dung, like Delly got. She paid quite a bit for it too, thinking it would be something really nice! I think it was the most expensive bag available. I know she was disappointed.

My favorite part of our Terror Mountain adventure was meeting Taelia, the snow faerie. She’s so pretty! I got quite jealous, because her big fluffy coat looked extremely warm, and I was freezing. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to do a quest for her before it got dark.

I’ll try and write again as soon as possible. Probably tomorrow night, after all my Mystery Island adventures – day one! It’s going to be so exciting, I just know it.

See you soon!

Shei

Shei set her pencil down, blowing the eraser shavings off the paper. Ever since they had looked in the winter petpet shop, she couldn’t stop thinking about her dear little brown Snowbunny, Fluffy, and how much she missed her. “Have you finished yours yet, Del?” she asked, folding up the Neomail.

“Almost,” Dellayn answered, signing her name. “There we go. It’s short this time.”

Dear Pix,

Today was so much fun! Shei and I went all over Terror Mountain, and we saw everything. We visited every shop and bought at least one thing from nearly all of them! Shei sure does love to buy things. I had to remind her twice that if she kept spending her neopoints, she wouldn’t have any left for Mystery Island or Meridell!

I’m bringing home a cute snowman snowglobe for my room and a scratchcard (which I’ll pick up tomorrow morning before the ferry leaves) for all us to scratch together. I also found a neat bottle of “fire snow” which I thought Chez might like to show to her friends.

I had better go now. If I don’t want to miss the ferry, I need to get up really early tomorrow. I’ll write you when I can!